Improvement in railroad conductors  ticket-cases



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Letters Patent No. 100,940, dated lifm'ch l5, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD CONDUCTORS TICKET-CASES.

TheSchedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part o f thesame To all whomit 'may concern Be it known thatI, JOSEPH T.SM1TH,ofLouisvi lle, in the county of Jefferson, and State of Kentucky,have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Railroad-TicketCancelingApparatus; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description ofthe construction and operation ofthe same, reference being had to the annexed drawiiws making a part 0fthis specification, and to the letters and figures of reference markedthereon.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a representation of my invention thrownopen, showing the compartments in plan view.

.Figure 2 is a vert-ical cross-section of the same.

My invention relates to the collection of fares on railroads, andconsists, mainly, of the construction and novel `arrangement of deviceswhereby fraud on the part of ticket-agents and conductors is prevented.

It is well known that fraud in the collection of fares can be readilypracticed on railway cars by conductors, who ordinarily have charge notonly of the sale of waystation tickets, but also of the collection ofthe same. Also, when a special ticket-agent is employed for the sale oftickets to be afterward lcollected by'the conductor, there may beV fraudby collusion. It is the object of my invention to prevent all suchcollusion and fraud.

For this purpose the passenger-agents? ticket-box A is prepared. Itisdivided in half, as shownin the drawings, the halves being hingedtogether at the back, and formed to close up tighily'to each other afterthe fashion of the valise.

Handles a a are attached to the box on the opposite side from thehinges.

When not in use the box is kept closed by means of the hooks b b andstaples.

Eaohlralf of the box isdivided into long' narrow-compartmentslongitudinally by the strips B B, and these long narrow compartments aresubdivided crosswise by the strips D I), forming a number ofpigeon-holes of suitable size to'carry tickets. These pigeon-holes arenumbered to correspond with the regular order of stations from oneterminus to the other of any' given road, commencing with number one.

The walls or partitions between the ends of the little compartments haveopenings to admit of the passage of a wire or other instrumentlengthwise through each series of partitions from end to end of the.box. In the drawings these wires or rods are lettered c c.

The tickets l used in connection with this box also have holes punchedor otherwise perforated in them, throughwhich these wires c c pass, thussecuring the tickets in the box. i

The rods or wires c cf are fastened in position in such a manner 'thatthey canonlybe removed by the authorized cashier or confidential agentin possession of the necessary keys. One manner of accomplishing this isshown in the drawings. i

The ends of the Wires which appear on the outside of the box are formedinto rings, c c', through which chains c e, attached, one to each halfof the box, by staples n n, pass, and are fastenedat their other ends tothe staples z z by the padlocks c c. The other ends of' the wires c cpass entirely through the partitions into receptacles M M, divided offfrom those portions containing the ticket-boxes N N.

Instead of a chain, a wire or-slide may be used. Or, the partitions M Mmay be closed with hinged covers, capable of being locked, and the wiresc c having been passed down through the partitions into thesereceptacles M M, may be locked in position by means of springs placedtherein. v

H H represent the hinges ofthe ticket-box A. G G designate the ticketsused iu connection with my ticket-box. and have near the lower end theholes g g, punched as above stated. Each station has itsown tickets,printed with the name ot' the station across the head of the ticket orlengthwise, in red or other colored ink, over the face of the same. 'Ihetickets for each station are placed in the pigeon-hole of the ticket-boxwhich bears the number corresponding to that station. Theabove-described ticket-boxis placed in the hands of a passengertieket-agent, who is charged with all the tickets in the box. This agententers the cars, calling on each passenger to state the point to whichhe desires to go, and, being informed, selects the desired ticket, marksthereon with indelible pencil or ink the number ot' the station at whichsaid passenger entered the cars. He ygives this ticket to the passenger,passing on nntil all are supplied. l It should be his duty to see thatAall passengers have tickets, and to supply all those who get on atway-stations.

A- regular conductor is also employed, who is the cash andticket-collector. He follows the passenger ticket-agent, calls for thetickets distributed by him, and noting thereon the point of entry andldestination of each passenger, is enabled to call for the proper fare atonce. The tickets and cash thus pass into the hands of the conductor, bywhom they are returned to the cashier or general ticket-agent, who holdsthe keys of the ticket-box. This box will show that certain tickets havebeen removed from it. rIhese tickets, with the corresponding amount ofcash, must be rctllrned by the. conductor.

It' so desired, the passenger ticket-agent may be instructed to mark, iuaddition to the number of the station at which the passenger entered thecars, the amount of fare.

Sometimes itmay be preferable to divide each sta- They are of the usualforni and size,

tion ticket-compartment N into two subdivisions, one of which shallcontain 'tickets printed to the station, the other tickets printed fromthe same station. When this method is employed, each passenger will havedelivered to him, by the agent carrying the box, two tickets, oneshowing the point of entry, and the other the destination of thetraveler, forming a double or combined ticket, which will show to therailroad company the amount of money due from the passenger.

To guard still further against fraud, one or more frames should be hunginside of each passenger-coach, conspicuously, on both sides of whichshould be printed a notice to the traveling public, somewhat as follows:

y Notice to passengers.

Each passenger will be furnished with a ticket by the passengerticket-agent on the train.

The conductor is not at liberty to collect fare from passengers not thussupplied. Any one reporting neglect of these rules will receive thethanks of the ofcers of the road.

The tickets are canceled by being torn olf from the wires or rods e c.

What I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

'1. The hinged ticket-boxherein described, haring ticket compartments N,receptacles M, canceling-rods IIGSSGS.

JOSEPH T. SMITH. Witnesses:

JOHN E. PYLE, JOHN K. BoswnLL.

